Breaking Rank: Rental Agreement

ANC anticipates that the consolidation of its Alamo and National brands will save millions in operating costs.

August, 2002

ANC Rental System isn’t exactly new to the Top 250 list. But this is the first time that car-rental companies Alamo Rent-a-Car and National Car Rental have been listed jointly under their parent company.

In May, the Fort Lauderdale-based corporation won approval from a federal bankruptcy judge to merge its two rental car brands under a single concession agreement at airports in four additional cities: Las Vegas, Memphis, Houston and Melbourne, Fla. The judge rejected a motion from competitors Hertz and Avis to block the consolidation and precluded both companies from making further attempts to do so.

ANC Rental, a spinoff of AutoNation that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November, is one of the world’s largest rental-car companies.

“Consolidation at Dallas-Fort Worth, just one of the four most recently approved airports, will save ANC over $5 million in operating costs annually,” Regional Vice President Randy Monturi says. “We do not have an estimate on how much would be saved by dual-branding in Hawaii, but the airport in Honolulu stands to increase its annual commissions by nearly $2 million in allowing ANC to operate both the Alamo and National brands under a single concession location.”

Monturi expects to begin discussions with Honolulu International Airport officials by the end of this year. ANC Rental, which has 15 locations in the state, saw $132 million in gross sales in 2001, down more than 10 percent from the year prior.

“Sept. 11 was a major factor in the decrease of our sales between 2000 to 2001,” Monturi says. “Over half of our $15 million sales decrease occurred post-Sept. 11.”

The company laid off 50 of its 650 workers following the attacks, and is slowly rebuilding its workforce. As of this writing, the company was up to 615 Hawaii employees.

ANC also continues to expand its Hawaii fleet. Last month, the company added 1,000 cars to its fleet of 12,500.

“We are increasing our fleet to offer our customers a wider variety of vehicles to rent,” Monturi says. “Hawaii is one of our strongest markets, and we anticipate that it will continue to be a major contributor to our company’s success.”